Footwear refers to articles worn on the foot of a user, including shoes, boots, sandals, etc. Footwear provides a supportive platform between the sole of user's foot and the ground to facilitate protection and alignment. For example, a pair of sandals protects a user's foot from abrasion and damage caused by debris or bacteria on the ground. In addition, a boot or shoe may support/align a user's foot and lower leg according to specific parameters. Footwear is generally designed to provide protection and support corresponding to a set of intended uses. For example, a trail running shoe is often designed to both protect and support a user's foot from conditions encountered while engaged in the activity of trail running. Protection refers to protecting both the skin and internal muscles of the foot. Alignment refers to maintaining or encouraging a user toward proper foot and body alignment.
One of the challenges of footwear design is the need to accommodate a wide variety of foot shapes and dimensions while providing a product that is economical. A second major challenge is the proper selection of an appropriate set of available footwear for a particular individual and activity. Human feet tend to encompass a wide variety of characteristics including volume, length, arch height, toe dimensions, and various protrusions. The variance in these characteristics causes people's feet to differ significantly from one another and sometimes from foot to foot. To properly provide optimal support characteristics, it is necessary for the article of footwear to correspond as closely as possible to the unique dimensions of a user's foot. An improperly-fitting article of footwear will likely cause pain, injury and damage to a user's foot, leg(s), back, and neck. Therefore, various systems and methods are used to facilitate selecting and/or adjusting existing footwear for a user.
Unfortunately, conventional measuring systems and methods fail to measure all of the variables necessary to select and/or adjust an article of footwear for optimal fit. One of the most common measuring devices measures only three foot characteristics including heel to toe, arch location, and width. These characteristics are then used to select an existing article of footwear. Other adjustments are often handled through a manual trial and error system in which a user tries on a pair of shoes and problems are resolved through making various adjustments. Unfortunately, this process is not reliable for addressing the needs of a user in adjusting or selecting appropriate footwear.
Therefore, there is a need in the industry for systems and methods of measuring and adjusting footwear to accommodate the unique podiatric needs of a user.